Charleston Mayor: 1 Dead, Gunman Shot And In Critical Condition After Standoff

Charleston, S.C. Police Department blocks John St. towards King St. as an active hostage situation is going on in a King St. restaurant in Charleston, S.C.,Thursday, August 24, 2017.(AP Photo/Mic Smith)
Charleston, S.C. Police Department blocks the street during an active hostage situation in Charleston, S.C., on Thursday, Aug.24, 2017. Authorities say a disgruntled employee shot one person and is holding hostages ... Charleston, S.C. Police Department blocks the street during an active hostage situation in Charleston, S.C., on Thursday, Aug.24, 2017. Authorities say a disgruntled employee shot one person and is holding hostages in a restaurant in an area that is popular with tourists. Mayor John Tecklenburg said at a news conference that the shooting was not an act of terrorism or racism. (AP Photo/Mic Smith) MORE LESS
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One person was killed and an alleged gunman was shot and transported to the hospital several hours after police announced an “active shooter” situation Thursday in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, according to the city’s mayor.

“One person has been killed today,” Mayor John Tecklenburg told reporters in a press conference.

Tecklenburg said a “disgruntled employee” entered a restaurant downtown and “killed an individual in the restaurant” and “held another hostage for some time.”

“This was a tragic case of a disgruntled individual, I think with a history of some mental health challenges, who took his anger into his own hands,” the mayor said. “The situation did play out with the hostage being safe, he’s safe. The assailant has been shot and has been taken to a local hospital. He’s in critical condition.”

Interim Charleston police chief Jerome Taylor said the gunman was shot by police.

Local police on announced an “active shooter” situation in downtown Charleston on Thursday afternoon.

In a statement to the Charleston Post and Courier, police spokesman Charles Francis said there was “an active shooter situation within the 400 block of King Street” and said “police are asking people to leave the area.”

The Post and Courier and local Fox affiliate WTAT reported that the police bomb squad was on the scene.

In a brief press conference, Francis said “one shooting victim” was transported to the hospital when officers arrived on the scene.

“We know we have a couple of hostages in the building with the shooter,” he said. “So we have SWAT on scene, we have hostage negotiation.”

“The shooter is a disgruntled employee,” Tecklenburg told reporters. “This is not an act of terrorism. This is not a hate crime.”

This post has been updated.

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  1. Standing his ground against a statue of Robert E. “The Stone Guest” Lee???

  2. So often when I think it’s some conservative loon it turns out to be somebody on the “other side,” so I’m going to withhold any guesses. I just hope nobody is hurt.

  3. Yeah, me too, but the snark just comes out.

  4. And my wife was worried about our daughter doing a study abroad in Spain!

  5. Witnesses told the newspaper that a man came from the kitchen with a loaded revolver in his left hand and said “There’s a new boss in town.”
    He was described as a black man in his 50s who looked like “an ordinary grandpa, but he had a crazy look. It was very crazy.”

    Sorry, link was to page I visited, but directs to Kansas city shooting – sorry

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